Russell, Gannon address inaccuracy

Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, quizzed about his accuracy problems in his weekly meeting with the media Wednesday, said timing has been a problem with his young receivers.

Through two games, Russell is 19-for-54, a league-low 35.2 percent. No other NFL starter is below 50 percent _ a figure Russell would need 16 consecutive completions to reach.

“On my behalf, sometimes extra-hitching it, the drop-step, when you’re expecting a guy to be a certaind depth,” Russell said. “Things like that happen. Just move on from it and look forward to the next game.”

Asked about the youth in the offense, Russell said, “That’s a part of it. Most of them are learning on the move. Most of them learning every day, the things we do with them. We try to get everybody on the same page.”

Russell described the issues of the passing game as not one thing but a lot of little things that will “get that ball going different ways.” He said he’s not always sure where receivers are going to be depending on the route.

“I know where the guys are going to be, but at the same time, once you look there, they’re not quite there yet,” Russell said. “Things sort of… you know… we worked on that, things that they should know and I should know . . . sometimes you have a guy get in your way so you’re not going to make your next step.”

That’s a word-for-word transcription, by the way, exhibiting that sometimes it’s as hard to see where Russell is going with an answer as where his pass is going on any given play.

Russell downplayed having a “breakout” game, saying, “I just see a complete game coming. I wouldn’t know what you want to call a breakout. But something we can go in there and just continue to do it on a consistent basis.”

Then there’s the loss of a wide receiver Russell trusted in Chaz Schilens.

“Chaz, he’s a big guy that you can miss at times,” Russell said. “He started off, was making some big plays. The guy can go up and attack the ball. He’s one that we can say that we miss. But at the same time, that’s why we have guys to step up in that spot for. Just work those guys.

“Don’t know when Chaz will be back. Hopefully he’ll be back soon. It is a guy that we miss out there.”

It could be all the function of having a great punter. When it doubt, throw it out of bounds and let Shane Lechler do his job.

“With the punter we have, you know, all-world Shane Lechler, go to the sideline, look at again, come back out again, let’s do it again,” Russell said.

Gannon on Russell

During his show on Sirius Satellite Radio, Gannon gave a thorough breakdown of Russell’s game as only he can. Gannon will be the color analyst Sunday in Oakland.

Among his observations:

— “I’ve talked to personnel people around the league. I’ve talked to people who have been at the games and there’s a lot of concern right now about JaMarcus Russell and his accuracy, his completion percentage. So I went back and did a study. I looked at his 21 starts, he’s completing just over 51 percent of his passes. And then this season, you look at his first two weeks, he’s completing around 35 percent of his passes. That obviously is not very good. I just think he’s missing too many opportunities and he’s holding back this offense right now.

“So what I did was I broke down every pass attempt from the first two weeks. I looked at whether he was under center or in the shotgun. I looked at the personnel on the field. I looked at whether it was a three-step drop, a five step drop, a seven-step drop, whether it was play action, whether he was rolling, and I really tried to break it down.”

— “There’s a number of things that you need to take into consideration. First and foremost, he’s had a number of different coaches, a number of different play-callers, a number of different coordinators, different QB coaches, in just his three short years in the league. That, I think, has had an impact on him, a negative impact. The second thing is the inexperience and lack of production at the wide receiver position has hurt him as well. Finally, after looking at all the film, I am convinced that all the things that he is struggling with can be corrected. So that’s a positive.”

— “A couple of things are very glaring. I think, you see a lot of times he falls away from throws. He seems to bail. I think a rush up inside bothers him. He needs to get more bend in his knees when he throws. He’s very upright and not a lot of bend in his knees. It may have something to do with his weight. He seems to be more comfortable operating out of shotgun than he does under center. He doesn’t do a very good job seeing out in front of throws and I think that comes with experience, really understanding and anticipating coverages. So that’s not something he does. When you look at the offensive game plan, the passing game, I think they’ve condensed the plan. It’s not very complicated. Fundamentally, right now, he is not very sound. His mechanics, his footwork, it’s inconsistent.”

— “He is much better, his completion percentage is much better, when he’s throwing to the tight end in that offense. Clearly, there’s a comfort level there with Zach Miller.”

— “I think sometimes he predetermines where he’s going to go with the ball. You can see that he makes up his mind very early in his drop. And the other thing is he misses a number of throws, almost a majority of his throws if you go back and look at it, they’re high which tells you that more of that weight is not on the front foot, that he’s leaning back, he’s throwing off of his back foot. These are some things that really jump out at me.”

— “Let me say this in terms of the coaching. He may have the premier (quarterbacks) coach in the National Football League when it comes to footwork, when it comes to preparing a quarterback in terms of the mechanics. Paul Hackett was my QB coach in Kansas City and was one of the big reasons why I was able to go on and have success in Oakland. He is a phenomenal coach. He coached Joe Montana. He’s coached a lot of great players in this league. I know he’s got a good coach there in Paul Hackett, his quarterbacks coach, a guy that I have the utmost respect for, and I know these are not the types of things, when I look at (Russell’s) footwork, that he’s coaching.”

I agree.
Can you imagine what Garner, Brown or Rice would say if Russel was missing them as bad as he’s missing his receivers now?
====================
I know that Rice demanded to be traded because the Niners had re-upped Jeff Garcia’s contract, and that Garcia’s balls were so off target, the receivers felt they were going to get badly injured coming back for his throws, or extending up over their head.

T. O. did the same thing.

I suspect any of the above, including players like Moss, would have long since reamed JR by now.

Now? No one has tenure, or job security enough to call out JR..I suspect the fans will do that for them, if JR continues like he has.

GalacticGus

well, we can at least say that Gannon on many occasions has come out and state his support for the Raiders and that he wants to see them turn it around. His critique is out of frustration. He has some respect, loyalty and appreciation for the team that gave him a team to call his own after many years of being a journeyman.
I would not mind having Gannon come in and assist Paul Hackett and eventually take over as qb coach. It is the Raider tradition to have former players come in as coach. If sanjal Lal aint’ getting it done with our Wideouts, heck, bring Tim Brown in.

raiderbub81

I will never ever badmouth Rich Gannon. He is the main reason that we even had a chance to cheer for the Raiders this decade. Without him, we would be in a 14+ year slide of Cincinnati Bengal proportions. He is outspoken, but he got it done. It was not his fault that Tony (never saw a side of beef that I did not like)Siragusa sat on his shoulder and we did not have anybody that could catch Shannon “Horseface” Sharpe on a 96yd pass play vs. the Ravens. That was our Superbowl year…everything was perfect; we would have killed the Giants.

Raider fans, do not forget our last MVP. He was a bulldog, exactly what we needed at the time.

stvvon

I have alot of respect for Gannon, I hope J. Russel can put it together. imo What you need is alot of heart and dedication, Russel needs to put in ALL the Extra overtime to be a complete QB. Work work work

860Todd Christensen

Hey Raiders Fans and wecolme to reality!
Yes we have a young team, yes we have major injuries to counted on players.
Blame the QB all you want, he is not a bust! He’s doing the best with what he has to work with.
Yes, JR isn’t a major force as a QB yet, in this instant age of electronics, everyone is a bust in 1 minute, football is a game of time and production on the field, always has ,always will. In most cases, controlling clock, controls game. We had the clock thrown at us last game, but we pulled it out. That tells me a lot of what this team is made of. To sit and say one pass, or another, didn’t do what someone wanted, is an inaccurate assessment of the total exploits of this young team. I saw a lot of comradre in this years team, absent for so long, and if it carries into the next game, Donkies are getting re-shoed.
It’s easy to sit in here and be haters, but this is my team, since 64, and I stand by them, in injury and health, that they will continue the uphill battle that the NFL presents them any given week.
We are Raider Fans, we back our team, swaggering or staggering, we cover their azzes.
You in?

exlaraiderseasonticketholder

Can you believe it, the Donkeys are now a 1 pt favorite.

860Todd Christensen

That’s for ticket selling purposes, and lines in Vegas! lol

860Todd Christensen

Raiders are always under-dogs, I love it!!!!!

Trolls 35 Raiders 0

exlaraiderseasonticketholder Says:
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Can you believe it, the Donkeys are now a 1 pt favorite.

I 😎 think you meant to say “THE DENVER BRONCOS” ❓ May the “BRONCO UNIVERSE” have mercy on your black soul 😈

GalacticGus

yeah, fat ass saragusa had to land on gannon… without ever getting a reprimand or a fine. I saw later in an interview, how he would never forget that moment. as if he was sent out to do it, and had a feeling of remorse for doing it.
We would have had that game if Gannon wouldn’t have went down. who did we have, Bobby Hoeing?
and then the next year, we had tuck rule, and then the next the chucky bowl where barret went awol on us. We could have beat them with Barret and sticking to a power running game to open up the pass.
a string of bad luck if you ask me. Thats three potential superbowls that we missed out on.

They say Al’s mind is sharp as ever. How bout his eyes ? If he sees Russell as his QB for the next several yrs its going to be ugly. I had flashbacks of Marc freakn Wilson watching him sunday !!

Dablkhole21

we need to run bush up the middle an use Dmac on the outside he does not push the pile enough. I hope chaz comes back soon he is a big target an aleast Tubby can miss high an outside an he can still catch them. God Help Please!!

Dablkhole21

Fat boy cant even throw a screen pass i couldnt help but laugh he is horible wtf throws a bullet pass into the dirt. lol dumb ass go put your wack ass mink coat back on mabye u should try waddlin for a first down next time when everyones covered stupid!

bizarroderrick

I have faith in JR, but I also am a HUGE Rich Gannon fan. That guy was and is an OCD detail-oriented preparation freak, and I think anything he points out about QB technique should be listened to. AND, I’ll never forget that Donkos game in 2002
when we broke the 4 game losing streak, in large part to Gannon nearly breaking the record for completion percentage in a single game, which he would have broken had Tim Brown not dropped an easily catchable ball.
It may have took him a while to mature and find his place in the NFL, but Rich Gannon is THE MAN in my book.

raideralex99

Wow … what a team player JaMarcus … put the blame on your rookie WRs … that right there tells me he is a loser.

Raider66

As far as Gannon coaching, don’t count on it although I do agree with his assessments.Gannon knows that if Davis gave Gruden the control he earned they would all have 1 or possibly 2 more super bowl rings.Gannon and Gruden are too sensible to work for/with Al Davis, it was fun while it lasted.I think the team is on the right track from a stability standpoint, the drafts have been horrendous and I don’t see JR winning anything!

I predict at least 2 picks on sunday and a loss to the Broncos.Al has picked Javon Walker to sit and stew, he does this to players he doesn’t like, it’s a Davisism!! Starting two rookies is astonishing and I wonder if its ever been done before?? not sure

DaRaidaz87

OK so someone plz tell me if Mike Mitchell is really gonna see some playing time this sunday? show me a link to an article or something cuz i have deff been lookin forward to see this kid play since his youtube vid im sure all have seen!

steelyone

JM is about as smart as a stump. He can’t complete a freakin sentence. Has no self control. Thinks about as fast as a turtle on chronic. Lacks leadership. Has yet to really show me the eye of the tiger. ( minus a couple of 4th quarter td’s, that I really can’t yet explain…ya know?

I agree with LA to The Bay and 860Todd. Russell is overthinking and trying to learn what Hackett is teaching him and at the same time we have a young set of receivers also trying to learn.

I almost sense when Russell goes back to pass on sideline routes he looks up and expects his receivers to be further along in their route and when they are not he panics and throws it out of bounds. When he looks in the middle of the field its not really so much about timing and he sees the target and throws strikes.
We are running team with the threat to strike from anywhere on the field. That is what Coach Davis wants and that is the kind of team he built. So if Russell throws for 50% and 1 pick ( preferably no picks) and 1 or 2 TDs ( especially during crunch time) with 215 yards a game. That is all we need and that is all Coach Davis wants from his QB. The bottom line is to win